Abstract

The highest known superconducting transition temperatures at ambient pressure are found in the cuprates, layered ceramic oxides containing CuO2 planes which host charge carriers (electrons or holes, depending on the other elements in the material). This seminar focuses on materials containing an anti-cuprate layer, “M2O” where M is a 3d transition metal; the metal and oxygen positions are reversed with respect to the cuprates [1]. I will survey the literature and describe the experimental evidence for magnetism and superconductivity in these compounds. I will then report our recent results in this area including the synthesis of thirteen new ceramic oxide-chalcogenides and a van der Waals layered oxide-telluride [2]. We used low-temperature “soft chemistry” to manipulate the materials without destroying the structure of the layers and to synthesise new metastable lithium-containing phases.

[1] P. Doan, M. Gooch, Z. Tang, B. Lorenz, A. Möller, J. Tapp, P. C. W. Chu, and A. M. Guloy, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134, 16520.

[2] N. D. Kelly and S. J. Clarke, J. Solid State Chem. 2023, 327, 124276.